


The Family

by MarvelousMenagerie (HiddenOne)



Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Mob, M/M, Miscommunication, Mpreg, Torture, Violence, a lot of choking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-24
Updated: 2017-11-23
Packaged: 2019-02-06 04:09:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,866
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12809304
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HiddenOne/pseuds/MarvelousMenagerie
Summary: Tony doesn't know that Bucky is on the hunt for a traitor in his family (after all, Tony is too stressed out planning their wedding).Bucky doesn't know that Tony is pregnant (after all, Tony isn't supposed to be able to get pregnant).They don't exactly meet in the middle as violently collide. Fucking HYDRA.Unanswered prompt from ImagineTonyAndBucky blog:Mob AU where Bucky finds evidence that his husband Tony is a double agent for Hydra. He’s devastated but furious and they all cut ties without even giving Tony a chance. Of course the “proof” turns out to have been planted by a newer member of the Avengers, but by the time it comes to light, Tony’s already been taken by Hydra and tortured (unsuccessfully) for info. They find him and destroy the cell that was keeping him. Maybe throw in some mpreg as well? Somehow both Tony and the baby survive.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This prompt has been actually been answered by another writer a few days ago, so you should also definitely check out that one too :D
> 
> Otherwise, for clearer warnings: there's quite a bit of violence. Bucky becomes a bit unhinged. There's fairly descriptive torture of a Hydra agent. Tony also experiences off-screen torture that is mentioned but not explicit, and that is done by Hydra and not Bucky if that matters to you.

Bucky leans back in his chair, keeping his face neutral despite the anger twisting in his chest. Spies and traitors are a part of the business, but it’s an aspect that makes Bucky livid. He rests his gaze on Natasha and then Steve, letting both of them feel the weight.

“Find them,” he snaps. “We’re too close to the wedding for this kind of shit.”

“We’re on it, Buck,” Steve confirms with a firm nod.

“When you find them, bring them to me,” Bucky orders softly, letting the servos in his arms whir in warning. “I’ll deal with them personally.” He isn’t stupid enough to trust everyone who works under him, but still every betrayal feels as if someone walked straight into his house to spit in his face. An intolerable insult, and he expects that Steve and Natasha feel the insult as keenly as he does.

“We will find them,” Natasha echoes, meeting Bucky’s eyes. Natasha had had the longest road to earning his trust and into his inner circle, given her original ties to the Red Room, but now she’s a bridesmaid in his wedding. She’s found her family, she told him, and if she ever wanted to challenge Bucky she’d put a knife in his hand and tell him to prepare his best defense. Now, someone had infiltrated her home to pass information to HYDRA. He gives Natasha a nod and dismisses her with a wave of his hand - his full permission to do her worst (and best).

Natasha takes her leave, hands twitching to her knives in anticipation. Steve stands and raps his knuckles on Bucky’s desk. A gift from Tony, Bucky’s desk is dark-stained oak, an ostentatious center piece that would take over the room except for that Bucky looks twenty times more powerful sitting behind it.

“Focus on the wedding. We’ll catch the rat,” Steve tells him with a half-smile.

“Is that an order?” Bucky challenges, raising an eyebrow.

“An order and a promise,” Steve replies, and then salutes Bucky.

Bucky rolls his eyes. “Here’s an order for you: keep an eye on Tony.”

Steve sighs. “He’s not going to like that.”

“You’re my best man. You get all the terrible jobs,” Bucky teases, even as his heart squeezes. His chest aches at the thought of anything happening to Tony. While always a constant worry, a traitor in their midst brings it to the forefront.

There’s a smattering of knocks on the door and then it swings open. Bucky’s hand immediately goes to his knife, rising from his seat. Steve whirls around, reaching for his gun.

Tony bursts into the room, Natasha a half-step behind him.

“My apologies. I told him you were in a meeting,” Natasha says as she closes the doors behind them.

“It’s Steve,” Tony waves away as he strides over to Bucky. Steve snorts and lets go of his gun.

“And your appointment isn’t for another hour,” Natasha reminds him with a tiny sigh. 

Bucky lets his tension out with breath as he sheathes his knife. He slides a few of the files he’d been looking through on their latest interactions with HYDRA into a drawer before Tony makes it around the desk.

“I wanted to make sure Bucky worked up an appetite,” Tony replies with a grin as he takes a seat on the cleared space in front of Bucky.

“You’re only tasting cake,” Steve inserts with an amused smile.

Tony winks. “Lots of cake.”

“Only cake? Sounds like you want a taste of something else, doll,” Bucky whispers into Tony’s ear as he waves away Steve and Natasha. They quickly slide out of the room, exchanging a look, before Bucky takes the time to thoroughly kiss the grin from Tony’s face.

Bucky pulls back to see Tony’s eyes slowly flutter open. A possessive beast roars in Bucky’s chest, and he pulls Tony closer to him by his hips. He should tell Tony to be careful, that there’s a traitor in the house, but he bites back the words. Bucky will take care of it, and then Tony doesn’t need to be worried. Steve will keep an eye out.

“Come on, babe. Let’s work off those calories from all the cake a little early,” Tony whispers, voice husky.

Bucky chuckles as he lets his fingers circle up Tony’s sides. “Afraid I’ll gain some weight before the wedding?”

Tony bites his lip and something flashes in his eyes, but then he’s smiling again. “I love your abs too much to let that happen.”

Bucky bends Tony back over his large desk. He enjoys letting Tony show his appreciation over his abs for the next hour, and they end up being late for their wedding cake tasting appointment.

  
  
  
  


Bucky nods to Steve, sitting in a chair in the hallway,  as he opens the door to Tony’s workshop. He kicks the door shut behind him and catches the files that started to slip under his arm.

“Hey, dollface. Brought you coffee,” Bucky announces as he walks over to where Tony is welding...something. Bucky averts his eyes from the sparks as he sets the coffee on the bench, out of the danger zone.

Tony powers the torch down and sets it aside before taking off his mask. He smiles at Bucky, a wide grin that shows through the dirt that managed to get on his face anyway. “Thanks, babe.”

Bucky turns to go over to his chair, a glaring orange monstrosity that Tony had purchased as a joke and then cackled about the entire time it took Tony and Steve to drag it all the way from the garage to the workshop. Comfortable, though, Bucky admits, even as he gets swallowed in the cushions every time, so he frequently brings files down to read while getting eaten by orange fabric. Also Bucky likes the pout Tony sends his way when he sees Bucky reading paper files instead of using Tony's favored electronic systems.

Bucky pauses as he sees Tony grab the coffee and bring it to his lips before he jerks away and almost drops the cup onto the ground. Tony sets the mug back onto the bench and grabs up a pencil instead, scribbling down something as his shoulders bunch tighter together.

“Something wrong?” Bucky prompts, and he comes back to stand by Tony.

“No, no,” Tony replies, one hand dismissing Bucky and the other still scratching out equations. “Had an idea, genius in action, your presence is so inspirational you know,” Tony rambles, not looking up from his papers.

A quick glance tells Bucky that it  _ is  _ math that Tony is scribbling down - numbers mixed with Greek letters and far beyond Bucky’s ability to understand - but Tony’s back is rigid, his shoulders almost to his ears.

Bucky frowns and sets his files down on the bench next to the coffee. The cake tasting yesterday had gone well. The Odinson brothers always step up to the plate, even if the restaurant they run doesn’t normally produce pastries. Bucky would’ve offended Thor if he hadn’t asked, though, and Loki too - even if Loki kept making underhanded digs about how they weren’t a  _ bakery _ even as he brought out sample after sample after sample. Sure, he and Tony hadn’t agreed on their favorites, but they’d compromised by added on another cake layer so that they could have equal cake area of both. Still, Tony had gone squirrely at the end, fidgeting and almost speaking before clamming up and shoving cake in Bucky’s mouth. Was Tony getting pre-wedding jitters?

He’s glad he hasn’t told Tony about a traitor in their home, not if Tony is already unsettled. Bucky steps around behind Tony and digs his thumbs along Tony’s spine, circling to release the tension. “Maybe genius needs a refuel,” Bucky says as he searches for knots. Eventually he coaxes Tony into arching back into his hands, humming his appreciation.

Tony stretches out and takes the coffee up, clutching it to himself in a white-knuckled grip, but he doesn’t drink.

Bucky works his way up to Tony’s neck, kneading deep, and finally feels Tony relax. Tony had volunteered to figure out the wedding details because Tony could delegate that work to Pepper, but maybe Tony feels the stress of it anyway? Or is Tony finally deciding that marrying into Bucky’s business is too much? He grips Tony tight.

“Bucky,” Tony sighs, sagging back into him. Then Tony tenses again, and Bucky steels himself. “Bucky, I-”

Tony’s phone clatters on the table from the strong vibration. Tony grabs it and then swipes to answer. “It’s Pepper,” he explains before bringing the phone to his ear. “Yeah, Pep? ...Of course I didn’t forget, I’m already on my way. What do you take me for? ... Give me five, I’ll be right out,” Tony finishes with a sigh and then ends the call.

Tony groans and leans back into Bucky. “I have a fitting, basically right now.”

Bucky snorts. “You might want to rinse off first,” he suggests as he rubs at a black stain on Tony’s bicep.

“Join me?” Tony asks, leaning his head back so he can hit Bucky with his wide, pleading eyes.

Bucky smiles, amused. “No time. You told Pepper you’d be out in five.” And then he’s going to find the traitor so that he can focus on Tony and the wedding. “Go get your gorgeous ass fitted for your tux,” he says and then pushes Tony off his stool and towards the door.

Tony whirls and looks at Bucky, brow furrowed and biting his lip. “I…,” Tony lets out with a whoosh of air. “Yeah.” He leans forward and pecks Bucky on the corner of his lips and then he’s gone, no doubt with Steve trailing him.

Bucky reaches out to grab his files and notices the coffee mug, still full. With a frown, Bucky grabs that too and takes a sip even if it’s sweeter than he prefers. He needs to clean house so that he can figure out why Tony isn’t guzzling any coffee in his vicinity. He sets the mug down on an improvised table - a piece of cork board on top of a tall stack of magazines - and then falls into the chair. It’s less fun when Tony isn’t here in the workshop to laugh at him. Bucky shifts around, and something digs into his thigh.

Bucky reaches down between the cushion and arm and pulls out a binder labeled ‘Barnes-Stark Wedding.” This has Pepper all over it, but maybe Bucky can offer a few ideas if it would help Tony’s stress levels. He opens it, and papers slip out. Bucky snorts, wondering if Tony hid the binder from Pepper’s organizational skills on purpose or if Tony had forgotten where he’d put it.

Bucky tidies the papers and flips through them, smiling as he sees neat, typed lists that have Tony’s doodles and scribbles all over them. He is still half-tempted by the idea of eloping with Tony and forgetting all this nonsense, but both he and Tony could use the opportunity to network for their respective businesses. Bucky flips through a few more pages, tucking them back in line, before he pages back for a second look.

It could be the floor plan for the reception, except that the dimensions ping something in Bucky’s brain. He frowns, thinking, then freezes. The dimensions match the floor plans to their safehouse in Queens. Bucky flips to the next page. Calculations for food estimation, except the numbers match the inventory that Bucky’s team had planned to lift two weeks ago - but HYDRA had interfered.

Three additional pages, with people, weapons, key codes, with only a slight encryption protecting the information with the code to break it on the back of another page. Bucky’s information, Bucky’s  _ family’s _ information, that no one should have collected like this, but especially not Tony. Tony knows what Bucky does, but Bucky spares him the details and keeps Tony as far away as he can. There had been some backlash against Tony’s company, initially, but ever since Tony had moved away from weapons into clean energy there had been minimal conflict of interest.

Tony should not have these details.

Bucky has a leak.

Tony is the traitor.

Bucky leaps out of the chair, papers scattering to the floor. He grabs the knife at his belt and slashes the chair again, and again, and again, as polyester and fabric rains onto the floor. He imagines it’s Tony, instead, as he screams and slides his knife through.

He doesn’t stop until the armchair is thoroughly destroyed, threads and stuffing drifting all over the workshop. Bucky kicks the debris aside until he finds his files, the ones he had planning on using to find the leak to HYDRA, and the damning papers Tony had stashed in their wedding binder. Bucky grabs the papers and leaves the workshop, searching for Natasha so she can verify what he’s found. Instead, Bucky finds Steve rushing back in from the entrance.

“Buck,” Steve says, eyes wide, as he comes to a stop.

“What?” Bucky snaps.

“I’m on it, okay?” Steve assures, despite his frantic hand motions. “Don’t panic, but I might’ve lost Tony. He ditched me and then he and Pepper didn’t end up going to the tailors as planned, but we’ll find him. We will.”

Bucky snarls. “Don’t bother. If he dares to come back, I’ll deal with him.”


	2. Chapter 2

Tony slides into the passenger’s seat of Pepper’s hybrid car, admiring her commitment to being a leader in the clean energy business even if he wishes Happy were here too. Everything is better with Happy, but the man deserves a vacation.

Tony slips his sunglasses over his eyes as he grins at Steve standing on the lawn behind him. “Nope,” Tony denies, leaning out the window when Steve reaches for the backdoor. “Stalkers always follow behind in their own car. They don’t get free rides. Step on it, Pep. We’re late,” Tony orders, and this is why he loves Pepper, because she drives away and lets Tony wave at Steve.

“Is there a reason Steve is stalking you?” Pepper asks as she signals her left turn.

“Fun? I don’t know, maybe it’s a training exercise,” Tony replies as he fiddles with his phone. He sees her lips thin out of the corner of his eyes. Pepper never did like that Tony ended up dating someone in the mob, even when Tony told her Bucky was the mob  _ boss _ . That’s like, elite status. He doesn’t doubt that she’s fully prepared for the relationship to go belly up and have security measures and protocols in place to both a) go after every mob in New York and b) protect Tony from a ex who might try to kill him.

Maybe Tony should give her a warning, then. Pepper would appreciate that.

Tony clears his throat. “We, uh, should cancel that fitting. How do you feel about ice cream instead? Let’s go get ice cream. Or burgers? If you’re a bit hungrier than ice cream...”

“We’re not canceling the fitting because you want ice cream,” Pepper replies, and it’s like she’s too used to him because she doesn’t even blink. She keeps driving, and Tony’s stomach sinks.

“Aren’t we too late? We’re too late, aren’t we?”

“We’re not too late because I told you the appointment was a half-hour earlier than it is,” Pepper says, and then she smirks.

Tony takes a half-second to feel betrayed and then a longer moment to be impressed. “Pepper, it’s like you don’t trust me.”

“I’m the CEO of your company, Tony, of course I trust you,” Pepper clarifies, “with technology and clients and many other things. But no, I don’t trust you to make it to your appointments on time.”

“Betrayed, Pep. Betrayed,” Tony replies, faking shock. It may say something that the CEO of his company is willing to drive him to an appointment, though.  His fingers drum on his thighs and he keeps an eye out for restaurants. “But really, doesn’t that mean we can stop for ice cream then? Since we have time? And really, do we need a fitting right now? Isn’t it early? Kind of a waste of time, don’t you think?”

Pepper sighs. “We’re not stopping for ice cream, and yes your fitting is now because the appointment is scheduled now. It isn’t too early, this is the usual time to schedule fittings before the wedding.”

“Are you sure? Not that I don’t trust your judgement, but how often have you planned weddings before?”

Pepper looks away from the road for a moment to glare at him. “What is this really about, Tony?” Then the look changes to confused as she evaluates him. She looks back to the road, but Tony ducks in his seat while his fingers beat a quick rhythm on his leg. “Is this a self-conscious thing?” she asks, gently. “You know Chloe isn’t going to judge or talk to the tabloids. No matter how much ice cream you eat, Tony, you’re still going to look fantastic on your wedding day. If nothing else, a custom Van Dyne will do that.”

Tony winces. “It’s not - it’s not about the ice cream. Just...stop the car. Pull off, right here. Pull off, Pepper, pull off, pull off,” Tony nags until Pepper finally cuts him off with an “Okay! Okay, I’m pulling off!”

She slams on the brakes to turn a fast corner and then pulls into an unoccupied area on the side of the road that is probably illegal. Cars honk as they go by, and Tony hopes that there’s no paparazzi around to run any articles about how Pepper (and therefore all women) are bad drivers.

“What?” Pepper asks, low and pointed.

Tony breathes, shuts his eyes, and pretends none of this is real. “I’m pregnant,” he forces out, the words spilling as if he’d extracted them from deep in his gut, where he’d been trying to bury them for the past three weeks in hopes they’d go away.

“What?” Pepper repeats, her voice rising. She stares at him, gaping, and Tony grabs the door handle in preparation.

“You’re  _ pregnant _ ? Tony, if this is a, a prank...” Pepper trails off in threat.

Tony swallows. “No joke. There’s a bun in my oven and I’m going to be blown up like a whale soon and getting fitted for a tux seems more than a little pointless.”

Pepper gapes at him for another moment before she pulls herself together. “Okay. Okay. You’re pregnant, and no fitting today,” Pepper absorbs. Tony grips the door handle and watches her, and within the next moment she snaps back together and grabs her phone. “I’m calling Chloe and I’ll tell her... something. You find the nearest ice cream place because we can’t go to a bar before five.”

“And I can’t drink,” Tony reminds her.

Pepper gasps. “You can’t drink! Oh my God, Tony, you’re  _ pregnant _ . Oh, I’m messing this all up. Congratulations! That’s the first thing I should’ve said, congratulations. Oh Tony!”

And then Pepper’s arms are around him even as tears stream down her face, and Tony feels something inside him loosen, enough that he can breathe again. “Thanks, Pep,” he whispers as he hugs her back, tight.

Overall, he thinks, better than the best case scenario he had imagined.

  
  


“Okay,” Pepper warns him as she sets aside her half-eaten orange sorbet. “A few logistical questions first to get business out of the way.”

“Do we really need to do this?” Tony whines as he digs his spoon into his neapolitan.

Pepper levels him with a stern look before she continues, “You will absolutely be taking your full paternity leave when the time comes. No, do not argue,” she cuts him off. “You will not strain yourself. Now, have you scheduled your appointments? Are you taking your prenatals?”

“I’m building an ultra-sound machine,” Tony offers as he takes another bite of his ice cream.

“Okay. I’m still going to plan for your schedule to include certified medical opinions,” Pepper returns with a smile.

Tony rolls his eyes and sighs, taking another bite of his ice cream to see if that would calm his rolling stomach. Talking, planning, scheduling - this is all becoming more and more real, and he’s going to have to deal with it from now on. Oh, God. “I guess,” Tony submits. “I would hate to fuck them up before they even get here.”

“Tony, you’re going to make an amazing parent,” Pepper soothes as she reaches across the table and squeezes his wrist. Tony takes a deep breathe, his chest too big, because that had easily rolled off her tongue, no hesitation. “Really,” she confirms again, with a small smile. “I was only so shocked because I didn’t know you could get pregnant.”

Tony smiles, his lips pulling and stretching into something bitter. “You and me both.”

Pepper closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, her hand clenching down on Tony’s wrist. “Oh Tony.”

Tony lays a hand on hers and squeezes back. He clears his throat and takes a quick glance around to make sure no one is giving them a second look. “Yeah. I imagine Dad must’ve placed some very expensive bribes to hush that up and then never bothered to tell me the truth.” Male pregnancies are still slightly scandalous even today, and if Tony wanted he could probably star in his own reality TV show about his journey. 

He would’ve been screened at birth, though, just like every child is. Do you have Rickets? No. The organs to procreate? Yes. Howard had apparently not wanted a son who could give birth, and had bribed whoever he needed to pretend it was true. Tony doesn’t dare think about whether Maria knew, too.

They used to try to force females without birthing abilities to marry men who do, even though that didn’t make sense any sense to Tony. Maybe that was the reason - to preserve the Stark lineage, rather than end up in a forced joining that couldn’t produce biological offspring. 

“Well, congratulations, Tony.  _ You _ will be an amazing father, I have no doubts. But know that if I am not the first person to throw you a baby shower, I will be very offended,” Pepper segues with a soft smile.

Tony coughs and spoons some of the partially melted ice cream into his mouth. “You might want to hold off on those invitations, for a bit. Ah, not many people know yet.” Tony lets his gaze dart away from Pepper’s face and he looks out the window as he continues. “You might be the only one, actually, other than me.”

“Tony Stark,” Pepper says, voice low, and Tony winces. “Are you telling me that your fiance doesn’t know you’re pregnant?”

  
  


“Do you want me to come with you?” Pepper asks as Tony remains rooted in the car. Tony likes this car, he decides. He might’ve teased Pepper (just a little) for driving a hybrid at first. After all, even their clean energy direction hasn’t made Tony’s appreciation for a 6V engine and actual horsepower any less - but this car he likes. He’s safe in this car.

“No!” Tony protests. “No, no, of course not. I can handle this. This is nothing,” Tony continues, even as his chest tightens at the thought of telling Bucky that he’d been knocked up. Knocked up by Bucky, of course, Tony doesn’t cheat, but they’d never even talked about kids. If Tony had known there was more than STD’s to worry about, he would’ve made some adjustments to their sex life.

“Whatever happens, we will get through this,” Pepper affirms, because Pepper is best. She squeezes his hand one last time before shooing him out of the car. “If he can’t handle this, then he doesn’t deserve to marry you.”

Tony gives himself another moment to breathe, and then he opens the car door. He gives Pepper a quick smile before he climbs out. He walks up to the house, each step getting him closer to the front door much more quickly than Tony would like.

Natasha appears out of the corner when Tony enters, and Tony jumps back.

“Seriously?” Tony asks as he breathes deep, waiting for his heartbeat to return back to normal.

“Hi Tony,” she says, smiling.

Tony eyes her. “Uh, hi?” he returns. Something about her smile unnerves him, but he’s having a hard time determining exactly what it is.

“Bucky’s waiting for you in his office,” she says, the smile disappearing.

Not reassured, Tony takes off for Bucky. Natasha trails him, two steps behind the entire way, and so Tony doesn’t bother trying to make conversation. The route to Bucky’s office has never seemed longer, even with Tony lengthening his stride.

He catches a glimpse of Steve at the other end of the hallway. Steve ducks away, scowling, before Tony can figure out whether to be smug or chagrined. Ditching Steve had worked out well, though, as it gave Tony the opportunity to tell Pepper, so he’s not entirely sorry. It’s not like Tony could’ve told Steve before Bucky. Steve is terrible at secrets, and Bucky would never forgive him.

Tony doesn’t bother knocking before entering, since Natasha said Bucky was waiting for him. Natasha slams the doors closed behind him, and Tony startles forward.

“Is everything okay with Nat?” Tony asks as he approaches Bucky, sitting behind his desk. Then Bucky stands up and struts toward him, not replying. His face is blank, his eyes livid, and Tony thinks Pepper will forgive him for not telling Bucky the news right now. “Babe? What’s wrong?”

Bucky smiles, and a chill races down Tony’s spine.

“Did you think you were safe? That I wouldn’t find out?” Bucky asks, and with two more steps he’s in front of Tony. Bucky’s metal arm, the one that caused Tony to meet Bucky in the first place, the one that Tony has spent hours and hours maintaining and improving, the one that gave Tony time to fall in love with the man wearing it, closes around his throat. Tony’s hands grab Bucky’s wrist even though his brain knows he doesn’t have the force needed to stop those metal fingers from choking him to death.

Then there’s a knife flashing in the corner of his eye, and Bucky leans in. “How long did you think you could hide?” he whispers in Tony’s face.

Tony might die choking on his own vomit if his stomach tosses anymore. He closes his eyes, unable to meet Bucky’s piercing blue gaze. Bucky found out about the pregnancy (how? how?) and now he’s pissed. Tony had always looked the other way when it came to Bucky’s capacity for violence, but now it’s finally his turn. Karma, he supposes.

“Longer than this,” Tony admits with the little air that he’s allowed.

Metal fingers crunch down and Tony tries to gasp and ends up with nothing. His eyes pop open and Bucky’s face looms above him, now twisted in anger. The grip releases, just enough for Tony to sip a little air.

“I was going to tell you,” Tony whispers. “I - I was, today, even -”

Bucky barks out a laugh and closes off Tony’s air again. “And you thought I’d be merciful?” he snarls. 

Tony squirms, tugs at Bucky’s hand, and while he doesn’t move Bucky, it does cause Bucky to let Tony breathe again. Tony sucks down air, coughs, and then sucks down another breath. Suffocation can’t be good for the fetus inside him. The ache in his chest, deeper than his lungs, hurts more though.

“Admittedly I didn’t predict this response,” Tony forces out. He searches for the Bucky he knows, the Bucky he loves, in the man in front of him.

Bucky grins, and Tony goes cold. This is him.

“Rather stupid of a genius like you,” Bucky purrs. He drags the knife under Tony’s eye, scratching the skin but not drawing blood. “I should kill you where you stand.”

“That’s a rather extreme reaction,” Tony says. He hadn’t seen this coming. Bucky sneering at him in disgust, sure. Canceling the wedding, screaming in Tony’s face that he never wants to see him or his child again, yes. Where did he miss that Bucky really, really hated men who could get pregnant?

The knife presses into Tony’s skin, a half-inch away from his left eye. Tony doesn’t dare beg out loud. He stares at Bucky, pleading, and Bucky stares back.

The knife disappears, but the hand on his throat doesn’t. “Go crawl into whatever hole you came out of,” Bucky leans closer to whisper. “Don’t mistake this for mercy because if I ever see you again, Stark? I will kill you.”

Bucky releases him, and Tony falls to the floor. He doesn’t stand, not sure if his legs will hold him. Numb, his entire body is numb.

“If,” Tony says, daring to raise his face to look at Bucky, “a big if, I know, but if we -  _ I _ \- didn’t. If I wasn’t... if I just ended it. Would that... would that change anything?” Abortion had occurred to him, when he first thought to take the pregnancy test. Letting his pee sit on that stick for the required time let his brain run through a lot of different scenarios. He could get an abortion and tell no one, and Bucky would never have to know. Tony would just be more careful to prevent another pregnancy.

Tony had been so stupid to hope, to hope that Bucky might want this with Tony.

Bucky spits on his upturned face. “Get out.”


	3. Chapter 3

Bucky shoots his desk, the desk that Tony had bought him and the desk that he had bent Tony over many times. The bullets thunk unsatisfactory into the wood, and so Bucky uses his metal arm to smash it into pieces instead. He slashes the sheets that he slept on with Tony. He burns Tony’s clothes and anything of his that he remembers Tony wearing. He goes through the house, breaking and torching anything that reminds him of Tony. Steve isn’t quick enough to save his Captain America comic book that Tony had given him, but the others learn fast to hide anything they’d like to keep.

The only space that is safe from Bucky is the workshop. Tony’s workshop. The doors remain shut and locked, with no one allowed in. The last few moments when he’d been in the workshop are frozen in Bucky’s mind. Orange fabric and stuffing scattered, the armchair in pieces. Tony’s math that he’d been scribbling when he didn’t drink the coffee Bucky had brought for him. The welding project he’d been working on, just before. If he crosses the threshold again, Bucky - and not just the memory - might shatter completely.

He should’ve killed Tony. No one dares to reminds him, but it’s a fact. It is a glaring weakness that he left any traitor, any spy, alive and especially one that committed such a personal betrayal. Bucky should’ve choked Tony to death, should have slit his throat, should have put a bullet in his eye.

He couldn’t. He’d looked into Tony’s eyes, and he couldn’t. Next time he will, he promises himself. Next time he’ll look into Tony’s eyes and put a bullet in them. He dreams about the next time and pretends they aren’t nightmares.

The house has never been quieter. People dodge out of Bucky’s way and refuse to make eye contact as he storms down the hallway. During meetings, Clint plays with his arrows and barely talks. Natasha withdraws. Steve, originally, tries to keep everyone’s spirits up but now sits in the corner and scowls. Bucky growls every word that he is forced to speak.

Bucky focuses everyone on infiltrating and toppling HYDRA.

If Schmidt or Zola had anyone they ever loved, Bucky would have ripped them to pieces by hand. Bucky isn’t surprised to find out they don’t. Instead, he and Steve devise strategies that are brilliant and cold that target agents of HYDRA. They have no mercy, and let Natasha outlet her frustration on any prisoners unfortunate enough to be captured. Everyone gets practiced at removing HYDRA’s fake teeth with cyanide before they are able to crunch down.

  
  


Bucky walks around the room as Steve prepares his team of underlings for another attack. Natasha had gotten intel about another Hydra safehouse, and now they can flush them out with fire. Usually, Bucky would check if the surrounding buildings had insurance before greenlighting a smokeout. He doesn’t bother anymore.

Steve finishes outlining everyone’s positions and then gives the word to find their way onsite - quietly, in small groups, not attracting attention - by nightfall. Murmurs of confirmation and then people trickle out, giving Bucky nods of respect without meeting his eyes.

Steve comes and stands beside him, arms crossed and scowling - the new normal.

A muffled scream draws Bucky’s attention, and one of their more promising members, Rumlow, clutches his hand that has a shuriken buried in it. Clint tumbles out of the ceiling vent and lunges at him, tackling him to the ground.

“No one leaves,” Bucky orders Steve before he strides up to the pair grappling on the floor. He grabs Rumlow’s throat and slams his head on the floor. Bucky does it again and again and again while Clint holds Rumlow down until Rumlow loses consciousness.

“What,” Bucky barks at Clint.

“Traitor,” Clint replies. He scrambles for Rumlow’s phone and hands it to Bucky. “Texting details to someone he shouldn’t be.”

The phone encryption outclasses Natasha’s abilities to get around, at least in the ten minutes Bucky gives her. After that, Clint drags Rumlow, still unconscious, to the basement. Anything beyond Natasha’s capacity to hack smells of a rat. 

Bucky has Steve lead the rest of the team that night anyway, despite the nerves running through each member from the day’s events. While Natasha waits for Rumlow to wake up again, Steve reports back that HYDRA knew they were coming. Natasha removes the fake tooth with cyanide inside Rumlow’s mouth.

It seals Rumlow’s fate.

“You’re already dead,” Bucky informs Rumlow when he finally comes to. He watches as Rumlow tests the zip ties lashing him to the chair and evaluates the room before he finally looks at Bucky.

“Doesn’t feel like it,” Rumlow returns with a lazy smile.

“If you had anyone else on this planet that cared you existed, they’d be dead too,” Bucky continues, voice even. He stands in front of Rumlow, body loose.

“But I don’t. So what’s your big threat now?” Rumlow asks, letting his head roll back.

Bucky steps forward and wraps his hand around Rumlow’s throat. Rumlow closes his eyes, and Bucky slaps him with his other hand.

“The only thing you get to control is how fast you die.” Bucky closes his fist slowly, squeezes and squeezes as he feels Rumlow’s throat collapse underneath his fingers. Tony is the one who let him feel again, with his metal hand, and Bucky flings that thought away. Bucky releases and let Rumlow take a shaky breath. He gives Rumlow a moment to recover, to think he can handle this, that he can die without screaming everything he knows.

Bucky turns and sinks his knife into Rumlow’s thigh, missing the artery to prevent a too-quick death. 

Rumlow screams.

Bucky hears Tony’s voice intermixed with it, echoing from his nightmares where Bucky had slid a knife into Tony’s ribs that day. Bucky steps back, face blank. He nods to Natasha to take over as he strides from the room.

“If you kill me, you won’t know,” Rumlow tells Bucky when he comes back three hours later. Rumlow pants as blood drips from his mouth, and Natasha sits back, content, with pliers in her hand. She always did like teeth, for some reason. “You’ll never find him.”

Bucky feigns disinterest as he inspects Natasha’s collection.

“You forget all about him? Your boy-toy fiance?”

Bucky goes rigid, and Natasha refuses to react beside him. Bucky looks up with a smirk. “You got something to say? Finally wanting to die a little faster?”

“You let me go and I’ll tell you where he is,” Rumlow offers and then spits out a mouthful of blood.

“You’re always so effective, Nat,” Bucky praises. “They always want to talk to you.”

“It’s my charm,” Natasha says, playing with her pliers.

Rumlow forces out a laugh. “You don’t care? Cut him loose and forgot all about him? Did you train him to keep his mouth shut, or has he spilled all your secrets by now? How many teeth does  _ he  _ have left?” Rumlow smiles, showing gaps.

Rumlow has been with Bucky’s family for months. Steve had been impressed by him - ruthless but efficient. Rumlow and Tony could have worked together to pass information to HYDRA, or maybe HYDRA had sent them in separately and ignorant so they couldn’t rat each other out. Maybe Rumlow had flipped Tony, offered whatever bribe to get information out.

...or maybe, maybe... except Bucky can’t even think the possibility. 

But if HYDRA has Tony, then they have a weakness that Bucky lets fester. And letting HYDRA torture Tony, like Rumlow taunts? Bucky shouldn’t care, but...the only one with the right to torture Tony is Bucky.

Ice invades his bloodstream. He imagines ripping out Rumlow’s throat right now, with his bare hand. Bucky stares at him, refusing to blink. “Anything else you want to say?” Bucky asks.

“I know where Stark is,” Rumlow says, his eyes wild.

Bucky tilts his head and quirks his lips. “You’re already dead,” he repeats. Then he turns and walks toward the door. “With me,” he orders Natasha as he passes. She slinks behind him, shutting the door and cutting off Rumlow’s repeated scream of “I know where he is!”

“Find him,” Bucky orders Natasha as she trails him through the hallway. “Steve will finish with Rumlow, and we’ll check out anything else he might have to say.” Steve isn’t as good as Natasha and he doesn’t enjoy it, but it will serve as Steve’s punishment for not noticing a double agent under him for months.

“Do you think he framed Tony?” Natasha voices.

An explanation Bucky can’t allow himself to acknowledge. A rampage simmers under his skin, a lethal destructive force waiting to be unleashed if it turns out that Bucky cut Tony out for nothing.

“Find him,” Bucky repeats.

Steve grimaces but does his duty. He does more than his duty, even, because Bucky has never seen Steve so creative with liquid nitrogen before. He suspects that Natasha told Steve that maybe Rumlow planted the papers on Tony, maybe Tony didn’t betray them, maybe they were wrong, maybe maybe maybe.

Rumlow dies but not before admitting that he framed Tony to get the heat of the search off of himself. 

Bucky breaks every bone in Rumlow’s body before he breathes his last.

 

 

Rumlow had given them six false locations of HYDRA bases where he says they’re keeping Tony, and Bucky hasn’t slept in thirty hours when Natasha tracks down the right one, one that Rumlow never mentioned.

Bucky arms his agents to the teeth before they slip inside. Silencers and Natasha’s garrote get them deep inside before the alarms go off. It’s Bucky that trigger them, stepping out and shooting the man holding Tony’s head underwater in the face.

Tony rips himself back out of the water, gasping for air, and Bucky turns to cover him as bullets start flying. Tony scrambles toward a corner, and Bucky follows him, aim true as he takes down agent after agent. A bullet pings off of Bucky’s left elbow, and Bucky puts his own bullet between the shooter’s eyes.

“I didn’t tell them anything!” Tony defends as he rips at the wall. Bucky moves to stand between Tony and the rest, barely taking the time to tell friend from foe as more people try to invade the far side of the room. Bucky changes the clip in his gun and continues shooting. Steve and his second team should be providing reinforcements soon, unless HYDRA has additional outside defenses that they didn’t account for.

A stupid, rushed plan but Bucky doesn’t regret it as he risks a glance back toward Tony. Tony has pulled wires out of the wall, and then Tony grabs one of Bucky’s knives strapped to his ankle and uses it to strip the wires.

Tony crosses them, ties them back together, and then gets up to shout in Bucky’s ear “Shoot the wall!”

Bucky twists, fires off three rounds at the mess Tony had created, and then turns back to provide cover fire for Natasha darting through the doorway.

“Go, go, go!” Tony screams, shoving at Bucky’s shoulder. “Get them out, get everyone out!”

Bucky hesitates. Tony not betraying them is still more wish than reality at this point in Bucky’s brain. Zola or Schmidt could be further inside.

Then Bucky calls the retreat, signaling Natasha. Bullets follow them down the hallway, but everyone between them and the exit is dead. They catch Steve’s force just entering, and wave them back as they race for the outside.

“Go!” Tony urges them as they race down the blocks. Sirens in the distance, it’s not a bad idea. Bucky’s people scatter into the night, but Bucky keeps a hold of Tony, and Natasha and Steve stay close. Bucky doesn’t doubt that Clint is nearby but out of sight.

Bucky stops when Tony collapses to the ground, panting. He tugs him into an alley and behind a dumpster, out of sight.

An explosion from a few blocks away lights up the night sky, and Bucky watches in awe as the light recedes.

“That the sound of HYDRA scum dying? I like it,” Clint offers as he slips up to them.

“That building,” Tony wheezes, “was an electrical shitshow. Wired to blow.”

“That’s a bit more dramatic than your average electrical fire,” Natasha offers as she bandages up a bullet graze on her arm.

“I might have spruced it up a bit,” Tony says, leaning back against the wall. “You here to shut me up permanently?” he asks, looking at Bucky.

Bucky leans down, and buries the hurt when Tony flinches away from him. “You say anything worth killing you over?” he asks.

Tony sneers. “I’m not a traitor.”

The words hit Bucky like a slap in the face, and he takes it. Absorbs it. This is only the beginning for what he deserves.

“Come back home,” Bucky says, his voice edging into an order.

Tony looks at him, eyes wide and confused. “What? But... why?”

“Because you’re not a traitor,” Bucky answers, and then he’s picking Tony up and carrying him back home.

  
  


 

“You thought I betrayed you,” Tony repeats when Bucky explains how Rumlow framed Tony. They’re alone now, in a conference room because Bucky couldn’t handle doing this in his office, Tony’s workshop, or their bedroom. “You thought I could sell you out? To  _ HYDRA _ ? Why the fuck would I do that?”

Bucky doesn’t have an answer, and so he doesn’t give one. Tony has his own money, has his own power, but Bucky refuses to trust anyone completely in this business. Anyone in his inner circle who would betray him would stab him in the chest, not the back, and that’s the only comfort he has. But Tony crumples, hurt. “You thought I could sell you out, when I was going to marry you.”

Bucky doesn’t respond. He’d choked Tony, threatened his life, held him at knifepoint. He’d spit on his face and ordered him to get out. He never wants Tony to leave again, but he can’t expect him to stay. He can’t force Tony, either, because without loyalty Bucky will end up having to kill Tony in the future for this same reason.

“God. Bucky, I - I guess that makes sense why you were going to kill me,” Tony says with a high-pitched giggle. “Oh my God. I thought - and you still, you still don’t know, do you? No, Pepper wouldn’t have - oh my God.”

Bucky frowns and waits while Tony paces around the room. Tony is thin, starved. How much did HYDRA torture him? How long did they have him?

“I don’t even know,” Tony whispers to himself, one hand going to his stomach. No, lower than his stomach. “What if...? Christ. If HYDRA killed my child, after all this, then I will burn those motherfuckers to the ground,” Tony exclaims, whirling toward Bucky.

Bucky’s ears ring, the words repeating in his head. “You’re... are you pregnant?” he asks, the words forced out through a clenched jaw.

Tony draws back, both hands covering his belly - his womb - in protection. Bucky would rather dig a knife into his own stomach and let himself bleed out on the floor.

“Yes. And before you ask, it’s yours,” Tony adds on, tilting his chin up in defiance.

Bucky collapses into a chair. “Tony,” he breathes, events replaying in his head. The coffee. The looks. The hesitation. The  _ fight _ . “Oh Tony. You - why didn’t you tell me?”

“I was going to!” Tony defends, and he takes another step back from Bucky. “That day. I thought you’d found out.”

“And that I was going to kill you because you were pregnant?” Bucky asks, but he doesn’t bother to make sense of it. He’s still stuck on Tony being pregnant. Tony’s pregnant with  _ Bucky’s _ child. And Bucky had spit on him and had him thrown out.

“Marry me,” Bucky says - orders.

Tony’s face goes flat. “What?”

“Marry me,” Bucky repeats, holding Tony’s gaze because breaking it might mean the end. “You wanted to, not that long ago. Before I thought you were passing information to HYDRA. Before you were too scared to tell me you were pregnant. Before this. I love you, Tony,” Bucky says freely. “I don’t deserve you. I never have, and especially not after all this. But I love you, and I will protect you and our kid until the world ends.”

Bucky leans forward to grab Tony’s hand, and kisses the back of it. “Stay. I will not hurt you again.”

“Unless I turn out to be a rat,” Tony offers up with a small smile.

Bucky grins back. “You’re not a traitor,” he says, echoing Tony’s words. And it’s manipulative, absolutely. Tony has just been tortured, he’s tired and hasn’t even been to medical to know that their child is still alive. But Bucky doesn’t care, not if it gets him Tony again. And if Tony dreamed of everything going back to the way it was, of having a happy ending with Bucky all while he was being tortured, then Bucky is happy to offer it to him immediately. He will use every advantage.

He smiles when Tony comes when tugged down into Bucky’s lap. “I will spend the rest of my life making this up to you,” Bucky says, and he wraps his arms around Tony because he can. It’s been too long. “Marry me,” he whispers in Tony’s ear.

Tony leans his head against Bucky’s. “Okay,” he whispers, and lets Bucky kiss him.


End file.
